"Thou hast been busy, Death, this day, and yet
But half thy work is done! The gates of hell
Are thronged, yet twice ten thousand spirits more
Who from their warm and healthful tenements
Fear no divorce; must, ere the sun go down,
Enter the world of woe!"-
Southey, Roderick, the Last of the Goths, XXIV, i-6.
One experienced in the signs of the heavens, would have seen that the sun
wanted but two or three minutes of the zenith, when Deerslayer landed on the
point, where the Hurons were now encamped, nearly abreast of the castle. This
spot was similar to the one already described, with the exception that the
surface of the land was less broken, and less crowded with trees. Owing to
these two circumstances, it was all the better suited to the purpose for
which it had been selected, the space beneath the branches bearing some
resemblance to a densely wooded lawn. Favoured by its position and its
spring, it had been much resorted to by savages and hunters, and the natural
grasses had succeeded their fires, leaving an appearance of sward in places,
a very unusual accompaniment of the virgin forest. Nor was the margin of
water fringed with bushes, as on so much of its shore, but the eye penetrated
the woods immediately on reaching the strand, commanding nearly the whole
area of the projection.
If it was a point of honor with the Indian warrior to redeem his word, when
pledged to return and meet his death at a given hour, so was it a point of
characteristic pride to show no womanish impatience, but to reappear as
nearly as possible at the appointed moment. It was well not to exceed the
grace accorded by the generosity of the enemy, but it was better to meet it
to a minute. Something of this dramatic effect mingles with most of the
graver usages of the American aborigines, and no doubt, like the prevalence
of a similar feeling among people more sophisticated and refined, may be
referred to a principle of nature. We all love the wonderful, and when it
comes attended by chivalrous self-devotion and a rigid regard to honor, it
presents itself to our admiration in a shape doubly attractive. As respects
Deerslayer, though he took a pride in showing his white blood, by often
deviating from the usages of the red-men, he frequently dropped into their
customs, and oftener into their feelings, unconsciously to himself, in
consequence of having no other arbiters to appeal to, than their judgments
and tastes. On the present occasion, he would have abstained from betraying a
feverish haste by a too speedy return, since it would have contained a tacit
admission that the time asked for, was more than had been wanted; but, on the
other hand, had the idea occurred to him, he would have quickened his
movements a little, in order to avoid the dramatic appearance of returning at
the precise instant set as the utmost limit of his absence. Still, accident
had interfered to defeat the last intention, for when the young man put his
foot on the point, and advanced with a steady tread towards the group of
chiefs that was seated in grave array on a fallen tree, the oldest of their
number cast his eye upward, at an opening in the trees, and pointed out to
his companions the startling fact that the sun was just entering a space that
was known to mark the zenith. A common, but low exclamation of surprise and
admiration, escaped every mouth, and the grim warriors looked at each other,
some with envy and disappointment, some with astonishment at the precise
accuracy of their victim, and others with a more generous and liberal
feeling. The American Indian always deemed his moral victories the noblest,
prizing the groans and yielding of his victim under torture, more than the
trophy of his scalp; and the trophy itself more than his life. To slay, and
not to bring off the proof of victory, indeed, was scarcely deemed honorable,
even these rude and fierce tenants of the forest, like their more nurtured
brethren of the court and the camp, having set up for themselves imaginary
and arbitrary points of honor, to supplant the conclusions of the right, and
the decisions of reason.
The Hurons had been divided in their opinions concerning the probability of
their captive's return. Most among them, indeed, had not expected it possible
for a pale-face to come back voluntarily, and meet the known penalties of an
Indian torture; but a few of the seniors expected better things from one who
had already shown himself so singularly cool, brave and upright. The party
had come to its decision, however, less in the expectation of finding the
pledge redeemed, than in the hope of disgracing the Delawares by casting into
their teeth the delinquency of one bred in their villages. They would have
greatly preferred that Chingachgook should be their prisoner, and prove the
traitor, but the pale-face scion of the hated stock was no bad substitute,
for their purposes, failing in their designs against the ancient stem. With a
view to render their triumph as signal as possible, in the event of the
hour's passing without the reappearance of the hunter, all the warriors and
scouts of the party had been called in, and the whole band, men, women and
children, was now assembled at this single point, to be a witness of the
expected scene. As the castle was n plain view, and by no means distant, it
was easily watched y day-light, and, it being thought that its inmates were
now limited to Hurry, the Delaware and the two girls, no apprehensions were
felt, of their being able to escape unseen. A large raft having a breast-work
of logs, had been prepared, and was in actual readiness to be used against
either Ark or castle as occasion might require, so soon as the fate of
Deerslayer was determined, the seniors of the party having come to the
opinion that it was getting to be hazardous to delay their departure for
Canada, beyond the coming night. In short the band waited merely to dispose
of this single affair, ere it brought matters with those in the Castle to a
crisis, and prepared to commence its retreat towards the distant waters of
Ontario.
It was an imposing scene, into which Deerslayer now found himself advancing.
All the older warriors were seated on the trunk of the fallen tree, waiting
his approach with grave decorum. On the right, stood the young men, armed,
while left was occupied by the women and children. In the centre was an open
space of considerable extent, always canopied by yes, but from which the
underbrush, dead wood, and other obstacles had been carefully removed. The
more open area had probably been much used by former parties, for this was
place where the appearance of a sward was the most decided. e arches of the
woods, even at high noon, cast their sombre shadows on the spot, which the
brilliant rays of the sun that struggled through the leaves contributed to
mellow, and, if such an expression can be used, to illuminate. It was
probably from a similar scene that the mind of man first got its idea of the
effects of gothic tracery and churchly hues, this temple of nature producing
some such effect, so far as light and shadow were concerned, as the well-
known offspring of human invention.
As was not unusual among the tribes and wandering bands of the Aborigines,
two chiefs shared, in nearly equal degrees, the principal and primitive
authority that was wielded over these children of the forest. There were
several who might claim the distinction of being chief men, but the two in
question were so much superior to all the rest in influence, that, when they
agreed, no one disputed their mandates, and when they were divided the band
hesitated, like men who had lost their governing principle of action. It was
also in conformity with practice, perhaps we might add in conformity with
nature, that one of the chiefs was indebted to his mind for his influence,
whereas the other owed his distinction altogether to qualities that were
physical. One was a senior, well known for eloquence in debate, wisdom in
council, and prudence in measures; while his great competitor, if not his
rival, was a brave distinguished in war, notorious for ferocity, and
remarkable, in the way of intellect, for nothing but the cunning and
expedients of the war path. The first was Rivenoak, who has already been
introduced to the reader, while the last was called le Panth'ere, in the
language of the Canadas, or the Panther, to resort to the vernacular of the
English colonies. The appellation of the fighting chief was supposed to
indicate the qualities of the warrior, agreeably to a practice of the red
man's nomenclature, ferocity, cunning and treachery being, perhaps, the
distinctive features of his character. The title had been received from the
French, and was prized so much the more from that circumstance, the Indian
submitting profoundly to the greater intelligence of his pale face allies, in
most things of this nature. How well the sobriquet was merited, will be seen
in the sequel.
Rivenoak and the Panther sat side by side awaiting the approach of their
prisoner, as Deerslayer put his moccasined foot on the strand, nor did either
move, or utter a syllable, until the young man had advanced into the centre
of the area, and proclaimed his presence with his voice. This was done
firmly, though in the simple manner that marked the character of the
individual.
"Here I am, Mingos," he said, in the dialect of the Delawares, a language
that most present understood; "here I am, and there is the sun. One is not
more true to the laws of natur', than the other has proved true to his word.
I am your prisoner; do with me what you please. My business with man and
'arth is settled; nothing remains now but to meet the white man's God,
accordin' to a white man's duties and gifts."
A murmur of approbation escaped even the women at this address, and, for an
instant there was a strong and pretty general desire to adopt into the tribe,
one who owned so brave a spirit. Still there were dissenters from this wish,
among the principal of whom might be classed the Panther, and his sister, Ic
Sumach, so called from the number of her children, who was the widow of le
Loup Cervier, now known to have fallen by the hand of the captive. Native
ferocity held one in subjection, while the corroding passion of revenge
prevented the other from admitting any gentler feeling at the moment. Not so
with Rivenoak. This chief arose, stretched his arm before him, in a gesture
of courtesy, and paid his compliments with an ease and dignity that a prince
might have envied. As, in that band, his wisdom and eloquence were
confessedly without rivals, he knew that on himself would properly fall the
duty of first replying to the speech of the pale-face.
"Pale-face, you are honest," said the Huron orator. "My people are happy in
having captured a man, and not a skulking fox. We now know you; we shall
treat you like a brave. If you have slain one of our warriors, and helped to
kill others, you have a life of your own ready to give away in return. Some
of my young men thought that the blood of a pale face was too thin; that it
would refuse to run under the Huron knife. You will show them it is not so;
your heart is stout, as well as your body. It is a pleasure to make such a
prisoner; should my warriors say that the death of Ic Loup Cervier ought not
to be forgotten, and that he cannot travel towards the land of spirits alone,
that his enemy must be sent to overtake him, they will remember that he fell
by the hand of a brave, and send you after him with such signs of our
friendship as shall not make him ashamed to keep your company. I have spoken;
you know what I have said."
"True enough, Mingo, all true as the gospel," returned the simple minded
hunter, 'you have spoken, and I do know not only what you have said, but,
what is still more important, what you mean. I dare to say your warrior the
Lynx, was a stout-hearted brave, and worthy of your fri'ndship and respect,
but I do not feel unworthy to keep his company, without any passport from
your hands. Nevertheless, here I am, ready to receive judgment from your
council, if, indeed, the matter was not detarmined among you, afore I got
back."
"My old men would not sit in council over a pale face until they saw him
among them," answered Rivenoak, looking around him a little ironically; "they
said it would be like sitting in council over the winds; they go where they
will, and come back as they see fit, and not otherwise. There was one voice
that spoke in your favor, Deerslayer, but it was alone, like the song of the
wren' whose mate has been struck by the hawk."
"I thank that voice whosever it may have been, Mingo, and will say it was as
true a voice, as the rest were lying voices. A furlough is as binding on a
pale-face, if he be honest, as it is on a red skin, and was it not so, I
would never bring disgrace on the Delawares, among whom I may be said to have
received my edication. But words are useless, and lead to braggin' feelin's;
here I am; act your will on me."
Rivenoak made a sign of acquiescence, and then a short conference was
privately held among the chiefs. As soon as the latter ended, three or four
young men fell back from among the armed group, and disappeared. Then it was
signified to the prisoner that he was at liberty to go at large on the point,
until a council was held concerning his fate. There was more of seeming, than
of real confidence, however, in this apparent liberality, inasmuch as the
young men mentioned, already formed a line of sentinels across the breadth of
the point, inland, and escape from any other part was out of the question.
Even the canoe was removed beyond this line of sentinels, to a spot where it
was considered safe from any sudden attempt. These precautions did not
proceed from a failure of confidence, but from the circumstance that the
prisoner had now complied with all the required conditions of his parole, and
it would have been considered a commendable and honorable exploit to escape
from his foes. So nice, indeed, were the distinctions drawn by the savages,
in cases of this nature, that they often gave their victims a chance to evade
the torture, deeming it as creditable to the captors to overtake, or to out
wit a fugitive, when his exertions were supposed to be quickened by the
extreme jeopardy of his situation, as it was for him to get clear from so
much extraordinary vigilance.
Nor was Deerslayer unconscious of, or forgetful, of his rights, and of his
opportunities. Could he now have seen any probable opening for an escape, the
attempt would not have been delayed a minute. But the case seem'd desperate.
He was aware of the line of sentinels, and felt the difficulty of breaking
through it, unharmed. The lake offered no advantages, as the canoe would have
given his foes the greatest facilities for overtaking him; else would he have
found it no difficult task to swim as far as the castle. As he walked about
the point, he even examined the spot to ascertain if it offered no place of
concealment, but its openness, its size, and the hundred watchful glances
that were turned towards him, even while those who made them affected not to
see him, prevented any such expedient from succeeding. The dread and disgrace
of failure had no influence on Deerslayer, who deemed it even a point of
honor to reason and feel like a white man, rather than as an Indian, and who
felt it a sort of duty, to do all he could, that did not involve a
dereliction from principle, in order to save his life. Still he hesitated
about making the effort, for he also felt that he ought to see the chance of
success before he committed himself.
In the mean time the business of the camp appeared to proceed in its regular
train. The chiefs consulted apart, admitting no one but the Sumach to their
councils, for she, the widow of the fallen warrior, had an exclusive right to
be heard on such an occasion. The young men strolled about in indolent
listlessness, awaiting the result with Indian patience, while the females
prepared the feast that was to celebrate the termination of the affair,
whether it proved fortunate, or otherwise, for our hero. No one betrayed
feeling, and an indifferent observer, beyond the extreme watchfulness of the
sentinels, would have detected no extraordinary movement or sensation to
denote the real state of things. Two or three old women put their heads
together, and it appeared unfavorably to the prospects of Deerslayer, by
their scowling looks, and angry gestures; but a group of Indian girls were
evidently animated by a different impulse, as was apparent by stolen glances
that expressed pity and regret. In this condition of the camp, an hour soon
glided away.
Suspense is perhaps the feeling of all others that is most difficult to be
supported. When Deerslayer landed, he fully expected in the course of a few
minutes to undergo the tortures of an Indian revenge, and he was prepared to
meet his fate, manfully; but, the delay proved far more trying than the
nearer approach of suffering, and the intended victim began seriously to
meditate some desperate effort at escape, as it might be from sheer anxiety
to terminate the scene, when he was suddenly summoned, to appear once more in
front of his judges, who had already arranged the band in its former order,
in readiness to receive him.
"Killer of the Deer," commenced Rivenoak, as soon as his captive stood before
him, 'my aged men have listened to wise words; they are ready to speak. You
are a man whose fathers came from beyond the rising sun; we are children of
the setting sun; we turn our faces towards the Great Sweet Lakes, when we
look towards our villages. It may be a wide country and full of riches
towards the morning, but it is very pleasant towards the evening. We love
most to look in that direction. When we gaze at the east, we feel afraid,
canoe after canoe bringing more and more of your people in the track of the
sun, as if their land was so full as to run over. The red men are few
already; they have need of help. One of our best lodges has lately been
emptied, by the death of its master; it will be a long time before his son
can grow big enough to sit in his place. There is his widow; she will want
venison to feed her and her children, for her sons are yet like the young of
the robin, before they quit the nest. By your hand has this great calamity
befallen her. She has two duties; one to le Loup Cervier, and one to his
children. Scalp for scalp, life for life, blood for blood, is one law; to
feed her young, another. We know you, Killer of the Deer. You are honest;
when you say a thing, it is so. You have but one tongue, and that is not
forked, like a snake's. Your head is never hid in the grass; all can see it.
What you say, that will you do. You are just. When you have done wrong, it is
your wish to do right, again, as soon as you can. Here, is the Sumach; she is
alone in her wigwam, with children crying around her for food-yonder is a
rifle; it is loaded and ready to be fired. Take the gun, go forth and shoot a
deer; bring the venison and lay it before the widow of Le Loup Cervier, feed
her children; call yourself her husband. After which, your heart will no
longer be Delaware, but Huron; le Sumach's ears will not hear the cries of
her children; my people will count the proper number of warriors."
"I fear'd this, Rivenoak," answered Deerslayer, when the other had ceased
speaking-"yes, I did dread that it would come to this. Howsever, the truth is
soon told, and that will put an end to all expectations on this head. Mingo,
I'm white and christian born; 't would ill become me to take a wife, under
red-skin forms, from among heathen. That which I wouln't do, in peaceable
times, and under a bright sun, still less would I do behind clouds, in order
to save my life. I may never marry; most likely Providence in putting me, up
here, in the woods, has intended I should live single, and without a lodge of
my own; but should such a thing come to pass, none but a woman of my own
colour and gifts shall darken the door of my wigwam. As for feeding the young
of your dead warrior, I would do that cheerfully, could it be done without
discredit; but it cannot, seeing that I can never live in a Huron village.
Your own young men must find the Sumach in venison, and the next time she
marries, let her take a husband whose legs are not long enough to overrun
territory that do n't belong to him. We fou't a fair battle, and he fell; in
this, there is nothin' but what a brave expects, and should be ready to meet.
As for getting a Mingo heart, as well might you expect to see gray hairs on a
boy, or the blackberry growing on the pine. No- no-Huron; my gifts are white
so far as wives are consarned; it is Delaware, in all things touchin'
Injins."
These words were scarcely out of the mouth of Deerslayer, before a common
murmur betrayed the dissatisfaction with which they had been heard. The aged
women, in particular, were loud in their expressions of disgust, and the
gentle Sumach, herself, a woman quite old enough to be our hero's mother, was
not the least pacific in her denunciations. But all the other manifestations
of disappointment and discontent were thrown into the back-ground, by the
fierce resentment of the Panther. This grim chief had thought it a
degradation to permit his sister to become the wife of a pale face of the
Yengeese, at all, and had only given a reluctant consent to the arrangement-
one by no means unusual among the Indians, however-at the earnest
solicitations of the bereaved widow; and it goaded him to the quick to find
his condescension slighted, the honor he had with so much regret been
persuaded to accord, contemned. The animal from which he got his name, does
not glare on his intended prey, with more frightful ferocity, than his eyes
gleamed on the captive, nor was his arm backward in seconding the fierce
resentment that almost consumed his breast.
"Dog of the pale faces!" he exclaimed in Iroquois, "go yell among the curs of
your own evil hunting grounds!"
The denunciation was accompanied by an appropriate action. Even while
speaking his arm was lifted, and the tomahawk hurled. Luckily the loud tones
of the speaker had drawn the eye of Deerslayer towards him, else would that
moment have probably closed his career. So great was the dexterity with which
this dangerous weapon was thrown, and so deadly the intent, that it would
have riven the scull of the prisoner, had he not stretched forth an arm, and
caught the handle in one of its turns, with a readiness quite as remarkable,
as the skill with which the missile had been hurled. The projectile force was
so great, notwithstanding, that when Deerslayer's arm was arrested, his hand
was raised above and behind his own head, and in the very attitude necessary
to return the attack. It is not certain whether the circumstance of finding
himself unexpectedly in this menacing posture and armed, tempted the young
man to retaliate, or whether sudden resentment overcame his forbearance and
prudence. His eye kindled, however, and a small red spot appeared on each
cheek, while he cast all his energy into the effort of his arm, and threw
back the weapon at his assailant. The unexpectedness of this blow contributed
to its success, the Panther neither raising an arm, nor bending his head to
avoid it. The keen little axe struck the victim in a perpendicular line with
the nose, directly between the eyes, literally braining him on the spot.
Sallying forward, as the serpent darts at its enemy even while receiving its
own death wound, this man of powerful frame, fell his length into the open
area formed by the circle, quivering in death. A common rush to his relief
left the captive, in a single instant, quite without the crowd, and, willing
to make one desperate effort for life, he bounded off, with the activity of a
deer. There was but a breathless instant, when the whole band, old and young,
women and children, abandoning the lifeless body of the Panther, where it
lay, raised the yell of alarm and followed in pursuit.
Sudden as had been the event which induced Deerslayer to make this desperate
trial of speed, his mind was not wholly unprepared for the fearful emergency.
In the course of the past hour, he had pondered well on the chances of such
an experiment, and had shrewdly calculated all the details of success and
failure. At the first leap, therefore, his body was completely under the
direction of an intelligence that turned all its efforts to the best account,
and prevented every thing like hesitation or indecision at the important
instant of the start. To this alone was he indebted for the first great
advantage, that of getting through the line of sentinels unharmed. The manner
in which this was done, though sufficiently simple, merits a description.
Although the shores of the point were not fringed with bushes, as was the
case with most of the others on the lake, it was owing altogether to the
circumstance that the spot had been so much used by hunters and fishermen.
This fringe commenced on what might be termed the main land, and was as dense
as usual, extending in long lines both north and south. In the latter
direction, then, Deerslayer held his way, and, as the sentinels were a little
without the commencement of this thicket, before the alarm was clearly
communicated to them, the fugitive had gained its cover. To run among the
bushes, however, was out of the question, and Deerslayer held his way, for
some forty or fifty yards, in the water, which was barely knee deep, offering
as great an obstacle to the speed of his pursuers, as it did to his own. As
soon as a favorable spot presented, he darted through the line of bushes, and
issued into the open woods. Several rifles were discharged at Deerslayer
while in the water, and more followed as he came out into the comparative
exposure of the clear forest. But the direction of his line of flight, which
partially crossed that of the fire, the haste with which the weapons had been
aimed, and the general confusion that prevailed in the camp prevented any
harm from being done. Bullets whistled past him, and many cut twigs from the
branches at his side, but not one touched even his dress. The delay caused by
these fruitless attempts was of great service to the fugitive, who had gained
more than a hundred yards on even the leading men of the Hurons, ere
something like concert and order had entered into the chase. To think of
following with rifles in hand, was out of the question, and after emptying
their pieces in vague hopes of wounding their captive, the best runners of
the Indians threw them aside, calling out to the women and boys to recover
and load them, again, as soon as possible.
Deerslayer knew too well the desperate nature of the struggle in which he was
engaged to lose one of the precious moments. He also knew that his only hope
was to run in a straight line, for as soon as he began to turn, or double,
the greater number of his pursuers would put escape out of the question. He
held his way therefore, in a diagonal direction up the acclivity, which was
neither very high nor very steep, in this part of the mountain, but which was
sufficiently toilsome for one contending for life, to render it painfully
oppressive. There, however, he slackened his speed, to recover breath,
proceeding even at a quick walk, or a slow trot, along the more difficult
parts of the way. The Hurons were whooping and leaping behind him, but this
he disregarded, well knowing they must overcome the difficulties he had
surmounted, ere they could reach the elevation to which he had attained. The
summit of the first hill was now quite near him, and he saw, by the formation
of the land, that a deep glen intervened, before the base of a second hill
could be reached. Walking deliberately to the summit, he glanced eagerly
about him, in every direction, in quest of a cover. None offered in the
ground, but a fallen tree lay near him, and desperate circumstances required
desperate remedies. This tree lay in a line parallel to the glen, at the brow
of the hill. To leap on it, and then to force his person as close as
possible, under its lower side, took but a moment. Previously to disappearing
from his pursuers, however, Deerslayer stood on the height, and gave a cry of
triumph, as if exulting at the sight of the descent that lay before him. In
the next instant he was stretched beneath the tree.
No sooner was this expedient adopted, than the young man ascertained how
desperate had been his own efforts, by the violence of the pulsations in his
frame. He could hear his heart beat, and his breathing was like the action of
a bellows, in quick motion. Breath was gained, however, and the heart soon
ceased to throb, as if about to break through its confinement. The footsteps
of those who toiled up the opposite side of the acclivity were now audible,
and presently voices and treads announced the arrival of the pursuers. The
foremost shouted as they reached the height; then, fearful that their enemy
would escape under favor of the descent, each leaped upon the fallen tree,
and plunged into the ravine, trusting to get a sight of the pursued, ere he
reached the bottom. In this manner, Huron followed Huron, until Natty began
to hope the whole had passed. Others succeeded, however, until quite forty
had leaped over the tree, and then he counted them, as the surest mode of
ascertaining how many could be behind. Presently all were in the bottom of
the glen, quite a hundred feet below him, and some had even ascended part of
the opposite hill, when it became evident an inquiry was making, as to the
direction he had taken. This was the critical moment, and one of nerves less
steady, or of a training that had been neglected, would have seized it to
rise, and fly. Not so with Deerslayer. He still lay quiet, watching with
jealous vigilance every movement below, and fast regaining his breath.
The Hurons now resembled a pack of hounds, at fault. Little was said, but
each man ran about, examining the dead leaves, as the hound hunts for the
lost scent. The great number of moccasins that had passed made the
examination difficult, though the in-toe of an Indian was easily to be
distinguished from the freer and wider step of a white man. Believing that no
more pursuers remained behind, and hoping to steal away unseen, Deerslayer
suddenly threw himself over the tree, and fell on the upper side. This
achievement appeared to be effected successfully, and hope beat high in the
bosom of the fugitive.
Rising to his hands and feet, after a moment lost in listening to the sounds
in the glen, in order to ascertain if he had been seen, the young man next
scrambled to the top of the hill, a distance of only ten yards, in the
expectation of getting its brow between him and his pursuers, and himself so
far under cover. Even this was effected, and he rose to his feet, walking
swiftly but steadily along the summit, in a direction opposite to that in
which he had first fled. The nature of the calls in the glen, however, soon
made him uneasy, and he sprang upon the summit, again, in order to
reconnoitre. No sooner did he reach the height than he was seen, and the
chase renewed. As it was better footing, on the level ground, Deerslayer now
avoided the side hill, holding his flight along the ridge; while the Hurons,
judging from the general formation of the land, saw that the ridge would soon
melt into the hollow, and kept to the latter, as the easiest mode of heading
the fugitive. A few, at the same time, turned south, with a view to prevent
his escaping in that direction, while some crossed his trail towards the
water, in order to prevent his retreat by the lake, running southerly.
The situation of Deerslayer was now more critical than it ever had been. He
was virtually surrounded on three sides, having the lake on the fourth. But
he had pondered well on all the chances, and took his measures with coolness,
even while at the top of his speed. As is generally the case, with the
vigorous border men, he could outrun any single Indian among his pursuers,
who were principally formidable to him, on account of their numbers, and the
advantages they possessed in position, and he would not have hesitated to
break off, in a straight line, at any spot, could he have got the whole band
again, fairly behind him. But no such chance did, or indeed could now offer,
and when he found that he was descending towards the glen, by the melting
away of the ridge, he turned short, at right angles to his previous course,
and went down the declivity with tremendous velocity, holding his way towards
the shore. Some of his pursuers, came panting up the hill, in direct chase,
while most still kept on, in the ravine, intending to head him at its
termination.
Deerslayer had now a different, though a desperate project in view.
Abandoning all thoughts of escape by the woods, he made the best of his way
towards the canoe. He knew where it lay; could it be reached, he had only to
run the gauntlet of a few rifles, and success would be certain. None of the
warriors had kept their weapons, which would have retarded their speed, and
the risk would come either from the uncertain hands of the women, or from
those of some well grown boy; though most of the latter were already out in
hot pursuit. Every thing seemed propitious to the execution of this plan, and
the course being a continued descent, the young man went over the ground at a
rate that promised a speedy termination to his toil.
As Deerslayer approached the point, several women, and children were passed,
but, though the former endeavoured to cast dried branches between his legs,
the terror inspired by his bold retaliation on the redoubted Panther, was so
great, that none dared come near enough seriously to molest him. He went by
all triumphantly, and reached the fringe of bushes. Plunging through these,
our hero found himself once more in the lake, and within fifty feet of the
canoe. Here he ceased to run, for he well understood that his breath was now
all important to him. He even stooped, as he advanced, and cooled his parched
mouth, by scooping water up in his hand, to drink. Still the moments pressed,
and he soon stood at the side of the canoe. The first glance told him that
the paddles had been removed! This was a sore disappointment, after all his
efforts, and, for a single moment, he thought of turning, and of facing his
foes by walking with dignity into the centre of the camp, again. But an
infernal yell, such as the American savage alone can raise, proclaimed the
quick approach of the nearest of his pursuers, and the instinct of life
triumphed. Preparing himself duly, and giving a right direction to its bows,
he ran off into the water bearing the canoe before him, threw all his
strength and skill into a last effort, and cast himself forward so as to fall
into the bottom of the light craft, without materially impeding its way. Here
he remained on his back, both to regain his breath, and to cover his person
from the deadly rifle. The lightness, which was such an advantage in paddling
the canoe, now operated unfavorably. The material was so like a feather, that
the boat had no momentum, else would the impulse in that smooth and placid
sheet have impelled it to a distance from the shore, that would have rendered
paddling with the hands safe. Could such a point once be reached, Deerslayer
thought he might get far enough out to attract the attention of Chingachgook
and Judith, who would not fail to come to his relief, with other canoes a
circumstance that promised every thing. As the young man lay in the bottom of
the canoe, he watched its movements, by studying the tops of the trees on the
mountainside, and judged of his distance by the time and the motions. Voices
on the shore were now numerous, and he heard something said about manning the
raft, which, fortunately for the fugitive, lay at a considerable distance, on
the other side of the point.
Perhaps the situation of Deerslayer had not been more critical that day, than
it was at this moment. It certainly had not been one half as tantalizing. He
lay perfectly quiet, for two or three minutes, trusting to the single sense
of hearing, confident that the noise in the lake would reach his ears, did
any one venture to approach by swimming. Once or twice, he fancied that the
element was stirred by the cautious movement of an arm, and then he perceived
it was the wash of the water on the pebbles of the strand; for, in mimicry of
the ocean, it is seldom that those little lakes are so totally tranquil, as
not to possess a slight heaving and setting on their shores. Suddenly all the
voices ceased, and a death like stillness pervaded the spot: A quietness as
profound as if all lay in the repose of inanimate life. By this time, the
canoe had drifted so far as to render nothing visible to Deerslayer, as he
lay on his back, except the blue void of space, and a few of those brighter
rays, that proceed from the effulgence of the sun, marking his proximity. It
was not possible to endure this uncertainty long. The young man well knew
that the profound stillness foreboded evil, the savages never being so
silent, as when about to strike a blow; resembling the stealthy foot of the
panther ere he takes his leap. He took out a knife, and was about to cut a
hole through the bark, in order to get a view of the shore, when he paused
from a dread of being seen, in the operation, which would direct the enemy
where to aim their bullets. At this instant a rifle was fired, and the ball
pierced both sides of the canoe, within eighteen inches of the spot where his
head lay. This was close work, but our hero had too lately gone throughthat
which was closer to be appalled. He lay still half a minute longer, and then
he saw the summit of an oak coming slowly within his narrow horizon.
Unable to account for this change, Deerslayer could restrain his impatience
no longer. Hitching his body along, with the utmost caution, he got his eye
at the bullet hole, and fortunately commanded a very tolerable view of the
point. The canoe, by one of those imperceptible impulses that so often decide
the fate of men as well as the course of things, had inclined southerly, and
was slowly drifting down the lake. It was lucky that Deerslayer had given it
a shove sufficiently vigorous to send it past the end of the point, ere it
took this inclination, or it must have gone ashore again. As it was, it
drifted so near it, as to bring the tops of two or three trees within the
range of the young man's view, as has been mentioned, and, indeed, to come in
quite as close proximity with the extremity of the point, as was at all safe.
The distance could not much have exceeded a hundred feet, though fortunately
a light current of air, from the southwest, began to set it slowly off shore.
Deerslayer now felt the urgent necessity of resorting to some expedient to
get farther from his foes, and if possible to apprise his friends of his
situation. The distance rendered the last difficult, while the proximity to
the point rendered the first indispensable. As was usual in such craft, a
large, round, smooth stone, was in each end of the canoe, for the double
purpose of seats and ballast; one of these was within reach of his feet. This
stone he contrived to get so far between his legs, as to reach it with his
hands, and then he managed to roll it to the side of its fellow in the bows,
where the two served to keep the trim of the light boat, while he worked his
own body as far aft as possible. Before quitting the shore, and as soon as he
perceived that the paddles were gone, Deerslayer had thrown a bit of dead
branch into the canoe, and this was within reach of his arm. Removing the cap
he wore, he put it on the end of this stick, and just let it appear over the
edge of the canoe, as far as possible from his own person. This ruse was
scarcely adopted, before the young man had a proof how much he had underrated
the intelligence of his enemies. In contempt of an artifice so shallow and
common place, a bullet was fired directly through another part of the canoe,
which actually raised his skin. He dropped the cap, and instantly raised it
immediately over his head, as a safeguard. It would seem that this second
artifice was unseen, or what was more probable, the Hurons feeling certain of
recovering their captive, wished to take him alive.
Deerslayer lay passive a few minutes longer, his eye at the bullet hole,
however, and much did he rejoice at seeing that he was drifting, gradually,
farther and farther, from the shore. When he looked upward, the tree-tops had
disappeared, but he soon found that the canoe was slowly turning, so as to
prevent his getting a view of any thing at his peep-hole, but of the two
extremities of the lake. He now bethought him of the stick, which was
crooked, and offered some facilities for rowing, without the necessity of
rising. The experiment succeeded on trial, better even than he had hoped,
though his great embarrassment was to keep the canoe straight. That his
present manoeuvre was seen, soon became apparent by the clamor on the shore,
and a bullet entering the stern of the canoe, traversed its length whistling
between the arms of our hero, and passed out at the head. This satisfied the
fugitive that he was getting away with tolerable speed, and induced him to
increase his efforts. He was making a stronger push than common, when another
messenger from the point, broke the stick out-board, and at once deprived him
of his oar. As the sound of voices seemed to grow more and more distant,
however, Deerslayer determined to leave all to the drift, until he believed
himself beyond the reach of bullets. This was nervous work, but it was the
wisest of all the expedients that offered, and the young man was encouraged
to persevere in it, by the circumstance that he felt his face fanned by the
air, a proof that there was a little more wind.
Read next: CHAPTER XXVIII
Read previous: CHAPTER XXVI
Table of content of Deerslayer
GO TO TOP OF SCREEN
Post your reviewYour review will be placed after the table of content of this book
